pretty in pink
by dear daydreamer
Summary: Never has Aomine ever seen Kuroko blush. Well, he's determined to change that. [For AoKuro day]


**title** pretty in pink

**summary** Never has Aomine ever seen Kuroko blush. Well, he's determined to change that.

**pairing(s)** Aomine/Kuroko; slight!Kise/Kuroko;

**word count** 3608

**inspiration** pick up lines in general

**notes** OOCness. For AoKuro day 2O13. Sometime during the MiraGen's Teiko days before everyone started hating basketball.

* * *

Aomine watched silently the scene presented before him. It was somewhat entertaining, if he could say so.

"Kurokocchi!" Yelled Kise as he wrapped his arms around the smaller boy. "You are so cute!" Kise said as he nuzzled his cheek against the boy's hair.

"Kise-kun, please refrain from calling me 'cute'." Was the straightforward reply. Kuroko gulped down some water.

The blond model pouted, "But Kurokocchi, you're just so adorable!" He continued rubbing his cheek on the supposed shadow's head. "Kinda like a girl!"

The comment earned him an Ignite Punch to the gut. Kise fell to the ground, clutching at his most likely bruised stomach as he whined exaggeratedly in pain. He moaned and groaned about how _his_ Kurokocchi "was so cute yet cruel" to him. Kise cried crocodile tears before picking himself up after Akashi threatened to double his menu so Kise would stop interrupting practice.

Later in the locker room, Kise griped about how "cute little Kurokocchi had already left for a doctor's appointment" so he had left early.

Aomine had just finished dressing when a still whining Kise suddenly latched onto him much like a leech or a flea even. "Aominecchi! Isn't Kurokocchi so mean?"

The tanned teen pried the model's arms off and shoved the flailing Kise away as he grabbed his bag. "Or maybe you're annoying."

"Butbut Kurokocchi is so cute." Protested Kise, continuing his playful act before his face turned serious. The atmosphere changed from comfortable to somewhat tense. "It makes me want to see him squirm and blush." Kise's face relaxed, "Just kidding~" complete with a playful tongue sticking out.

Aomine couldn't shake off the tremor that ran down his spine when he had seen the model turn serious. While the childish Kise was annoying, the serious side of the model was sporadic to say the least and reminded him of Akashi during his speeches. Shaking himself out of his reverie, he responded with a "whatever" before walking out of the locker room.

Momoi had to stay later to discuss some information about their future opponents with Akashi. He figured that would take hours and Akashi would end up dropping her off in his limo, so Aomine decided to walk home alone. The feeling of walking home by himself could be only be described as lonely. He was used to the Momoi's babble about the different plays they could try out and/or the short responses Kuroko gave about whatever they had been talking about.

The day replayed in his head as he remembered Kise's little slip up. _"Kurokocchi is so cute. It makes me want to see him squirm and blush."_

His mind conjured up an image of Kuroko with delicate pink, fidgeting with his fingers timidly like that one shy, busty girl from that one shounen manga—oh right, Naruto. What was her name? Hinako? Well, whatever it was, he had imagined Kuroko like her but with those sparkles and stuff in his eyes.

He shook his head, mentally destroying the aforementioned image. It was too weird to imagine his shadow blushing like a girl confessing to the person she liked.

That night, his dreams were plagued with images of a _very_ feminine looking Kuroko Tetsuya wearing _his_ jersey with light pink dusting his cheeks as he squirmed under his gaze.

"_Aomine-kun."_ Beckoned the dream Kuroko, making him look even more innocent.

Aomine bolted up with a start, his hand clutching his shirt as he shook his head vigorously. The abrupt swaying caused his vision to go blurry for a few moments before glancing at his clock—2a.m.

"What the hell…? There's no way Tetsu…ugh I'm thinking too much." Aomine slid back under the covers and tried to fall asleep again.

He barely got any sleep that night. A certain shadow kept popping up in his dreams like a phantom, as ironic as it was.

* * *

Bags had started to form under his eyes from the little sleep had gotten that week. Whenever his mind would wander, it'd lead back to the thought of Kuroko with _prettypretty_ pink cheeks. And it affected his light-and-shadow play with Kuroko. Just a _little._ As in, whenever harsh pants would come out of that little mouth and his pale cheeks would turn a rosy pink from the harsh training, his mind would come up with pictures of blushing from just being near him.

The sight usually made his mouth dry and would distract him long enough to get the ball stolen or for it to fly right past him. Though, that didn't mean that Teiko lost any matches, it just meant that got less that they could've, which usually resulted in Akashi tripling the tanned ace's menu, thus making him even more tired.

On and on, the cycle went until one day, Akashi threatened him to get his shit together or he would be a guinea pig to show just how sharp the captain's scissors were. Terrified for his life, Aomine had focused his mind solely on basketball during the day but at night, the dreams seemed to worsen as a punishment for not thinking about it during the day.

That is, until the not-so-cruel Gods had made him stumble upon a conversation between some second stringers he was escorting to a game.

"Kyohei!" Said a second stringer, a bright smile on his face.

The called boy turned and spoke in an equally cheery voice, "Yeah, Hiro?"

"Just wanted to ask how you and Hikari are doing." Said Hiro, a wide grin on his face as he wiggled his eyebrows.

At the mention of the girl he was courting, Kyohei brightened if possible. "It's going great. She's really cute and gets even cuter when I say pick up lines. Like, her face explodes with blushing. It's pretty adorable."

"Hey now, no need to start bragging about your girlfriend." Teased Hiro.

"Well, it was your idea to search up some lines on the internet."

Aomine tuned out of the rest of their conversation as it hit him. Pick-up lines can make people blush? He didn't know that! He imagined Kuroko sputtering and stammering as the tanned boy continued to gush out amazing pick-up lines that made the younger boy's knees weak. A wide, teeth and all, grin spread across his face as he began scheming.

"Watch out Tetsu, here I come."

* * *

Aomine cackled as pages of pickup lines were printed. The tanned teen started highlighting the ones he could use on the blue-haired boy. Another laugh escaped his lips as Aomine saw a particular line he wanted to do.

"You won't be able to escape me this time, Tetsu."

In his house, Kuroko Tetsuya sneezed before looking around blankly. He felt a heavy weight shift onto his shoulders but shrugged it off. It was nothing, right?

* * *

A shit-eating grin was still present on his face even after Akashi had quadrupled his training menu that day. Practice seemed to take forever and Kuroko was often too busy concentrating on the drills and practice matches for Aomine to even arrange a date with him.

However, after practice, Aomine was given his chance. While Kuroko wasn't easily spotted, he often dressed quickly and loved to leisurely walk to his home and thankfully, Aomine often walked the same way. He had found the boy just leaving the building, and he sprinted to him, his breath coming in pants as he yelled out, "Oi, Tetsu!"

Kuroko looked up from his book and turned his head to see his light running to him. He stopped walking and chose to wait for the tanned ace to reach him. "Yes, Aomine-kun?" Was the polite reply.

The dark blue-haired teen grinned. "Wanna go get some ice cream?"

The shadow thought about it for a moment. It was quite warm out and the uniform's heavy blazer made him sweat even more. Plus, Aomine would be paying this time around. The pale boy nodded.

The little store they often bought popsicles from made them take the long way home, but it was alright since they had been growing slightly distant as of late. On the way to the store, they made small talk, mostly about basketball since they tended to disagree on other topics.

Jokes were passed amongst each other and before they knew it, a comfortable atmosphere had settled between them. They had discussed different forms of shooting and how they thought some basketball moves were possible.

Aomine had begun babbling about how annoying Kise was, always asking him for a one-on-one match with him while Kuroko occasionally said his input on the situation. He kept going on about Momoi being sick that day and sending countless texts as reminders since she wasn't well enough to tell them to him in person. The tanned player said that the messages were annoying while Kuroko argued that "Momoi-san is just being helpful. After all, you would've forgotten your textbook if she hadn't reminded you, I'm sure of that."

The sun was just beginning to set; soft hues of orange interwove with the blues and light pinks tinted the clouds when Kuroko and Aomine had parted ways. Just before Kuroko had pulled his book and turned heel to walk to his house, Aomine grabbed his wrist.

Thanking the stars that his skin was dark, therefore hiding his blush, he spluttered out, "I wanna live in your socks so I can be with you every step of the way."

Rather than blushing, Kuroko tilted his head at the pick-up line. "Aomine-kun, that sounds quite disgusting as my feet tend to sweat during practice. Also, how would my foot fit into my shoe if you were living there? Even more, I doubt a person of your size can fit a hand into my sock, much less live in it. Please keep your fetishes to yourself. I will see you tomorrow Aomine-kun."

Aomine could only stand there gaping like a fish; his cheeks flushed a dark enough pink that it was noticeable through his tan skin as he realized how stupid and cheesy the line was said aloud. What's even worse is that Kuroko hadn't even really reacted to the line that he had spent an hour practicing. It was a harsh blow to his pride.

With new determination, he picked up his injured ego and marched home to find a different pick-up line. He was going to get Kuroko to blush so hard, he would faint!

* * *

Aomine was fired up to say the least. Students jumped out of his way based on the tense aura he was giving out. The teachers, wanting to save their hides, simply chose not to pick on him that day so school passed by fast. Momoi's cold was mostly gone but before she could even scream "Aomine-kun! Get up; we're going to be late to school!" He was already gone according to his parents and Momoi was forced to walk to schoolalone.

While Aomine felt bad, he had an important issue to address—getting Kuroko to blush. He had researched for hours, reading page after page and pick-up line after pick-up line till he had found the perfect one he believed to use on his shadow. His classes passed by like a blur, mostly because the teachers chose not to call on him at all, and finally, the bell rung signifying that all classes had ended for the day. Before he could look around for Kuroko, a thin, perfectly manicured hand reached for him.

"Aomine-kun!" Said the high-pitched voice. Aah, it was Momoi.

He sighed in exasperation, "What, Satsuki?"

She pouted, "Won't you help me bring in the equipment for basketball practice today? The other managers have appointments today or aren't here so I need help bringing it all."

Aomine pondered this for a moment. On one hand, he had to talk to Kuroko, but on the other it could wait, right? Conflicted the tanned boy grudgingly said "Yeah, yeah."

The two childhood friends talked as they went to the equipment shed to grab the cones and basketballs to use for the drills and suicides they'd be doing for the day. Momoi excitedly gushed about how Kuroko was being so gentlemanly for her, holding the door for her whenever they'd walk together and how she and Akashi had concocted an amazing play to be used against their next opponents.

When he had finally got to the locker room and successfully changed, the basketball team was already half-way done with stretches.

"You're late." Said Akashi, his voice was relatively neutral but had undertones of annoyance.

Aomine had sworn the gym had gone silent to watch the confrontation between the ace and the captain of the team. The ominous sound of scissors snipping rang through the gym. Before the tanned player could explain, Momoi spoke up. "Ah, Aomine-kun was helping me put up all of the equipment!"

Akashi nodded in acknowledgment and they all resumed stretching. Luckily for Aomine, on that particular day his coach and captain had felt extremely generous and had granted them a sixty-second break right before their practice matches. Taking his chance, the tanned ace quickly scanned for his partner in basketball. Now, where was he—ah, there he was.

Jogging over to his shadow, the navy-haired teen entered Coolmine mode and posed in what he assumed to be sexy yet inviting. With a smirk playing his lips, he said with utmost confidence, "Do you have a map, I'm getting lost in your eyes."

Kuroko stared as impassively as he had before. "I do not understand how one could get lost in someone's eyes. My eyes are not a maze, Aomine-kun."

Before the "light"-player could respond, the break had ended. Aomine walked away from Kuroko, still in shock. Shaking his head, he mentally conjured up an image of Kuroko blushing heavily and how smug he would be since he had made the impassive boy blush.

He wouldn't give up.

* * *

The following days weren't much better. Kuroko remained impassive as ever, with the rare; heart-attack inducing smiles that made his heart just skip a beat. Not that he'd admit that. Aomine blamed it on the hormones and the fact that they were a once-ever-blue-moon occurrences which surprised him. Yeah, that's it.

Anyways, Aomine would always try to start a conversation with the invisible boy but he always had a comeback for every single pick-up line he had dished out. But ohoho, he wouldn't give up. Every single rejection given by his partner only fueled his determination to make the boy's cheeks flush a bright pink.

Today, he had a special one prepared, just for him. The trio was currently at Maji Burger, a fast food restaurant they frequented because they made decent burgers at a cheap price and Kuroko was infatuated with the vanilla milkshakes. And Momoi? Well she was just there for giggles and Kuroko of course. In a sense, Aomine's childhood friend was like an obedient dog that followed around its owner (Kuroko) relentlessly. Ah, well, at least most of her attention was focused on Kuroko.

Shifting slightly in his seat, the ace moved his body into a more comfortable position. "Oi, Tetsu." Kuroko stop reading his book while taking small sips of his shake.

"Yes, Aomine-kun?" He flipped a page in his book.

"If you were a booger, I'd pick you first." He grinned.

Kuroko kept reading nonchalantly. "I don't believe that's appropriate to say when one is eating, Aomine-kun."

Momoi screeched, "Jeez, Aomine-kun! How could you say that? I'm eating here—wait a minute… Aomine-kun, are you betraying me?! I thought we were friends! No, no, no! I liked Tetsu-kun first!"

She started hitting him as she whined about how unfair he was. Aomine simply continued eating, pondering how the hell Kuroko could make a situation to his advantage every single time so far.

* * *

Furiously searching through page after page of pick-up lines, Aomine suddenly remembered the book that his shadow always read and that one pick-up line he had read a few pages back. Scanning each and every page till he found it, he had finally found it on the second page of pick-up lines. He memorized it thoroughly before highlighting it in bright pink for the morning after.

He had woken up especially early the next morning. Doing his morning routine, Aomine got ready for school before Momoi could break down his door so they wouldn't be late.

Suddenly, there was loud knocking and a high-pitched voice screamed, "Dai-chan—oops, Aomine-kun! Wake up!"

He sighed in exasperation as he walked in to let her in even though she herself had a key to his house. Apparently, his parents were all for Momoi being his girlfriend since they had known each other for so long. The two childhood friends knew better though. They fit together like oil and water, constantly bickering.

They had arrived at school relatively early for once and Aomine had spotted his shadow with ease due to practice and trial and error. Upon seeing his shadow, he had also noticed another teammate of his—Kise Ryota.

The blond model had his long arms around the pale boy and was constantly saying, "Kurokocchi is so cute!"

Aomine felt annoyance bubble up but he pushed it down as he approached _his_ shadow. "Oi, Tetsu, I need to tell you something."

Kuroko looked up from trying to pry away the blond. Said blond stared at his inspiration for playing basketball, "Ah, Aominecchi! You're here so early!"

The model let go of Kuroko, much to the light-and-shadow duo's relief and tried to smother Aomine with his affection and adoration. Aomine simply side stepped at the last moment and Kise fell to the ground face first.

"Waaah! Aominecchi is so mean!"

Ignoring Kise, Aomine proceeded to try to sweet-talk to the shorter teen. "If you were words on a page, you'd be what they call 'FINE PRINT'." Said Aomine.

"I do not appreciate being called short." Was Kuroko's neutral-sounding reply. However, Aomine, being near his shadow so much, could detect the annoyed undertone of the statement.

For rest of the day, Kuroko avoided talking to Aomine or even passing to him during basketball practice matches. Kuroko passed more to Kise than anything, much to the satisfaction of the mentioned blond if his smug grin was anything to go by.

* * *

In the middle of practice, Aomine carelessly said to Kuroko, "Sorry, Tetsu, were you talking to me?"

"No." Was the curt reply.

Aomine grinned, "Well then you should start!"

Kuroko huffed and puffed, harsh pants interweaving through his speech "Is this really the time for you to want to talk to me?"

Aomine pouted as his shadow slowed down considerably before it was barely faster than a walk. A shout broke him out of his reverie. "Aomine, I know for a fact you can run faster than that. If you're slacking off, I'm tripling your training menu." Aomine sped up.

* * *

"If I had a star for every time you brightened up my day, I'd have a galaxy in my hand."

"Aomine-kun, each star is at least 2,500 degrees Celsius so I wouldn't recommend holding 'a galaxy in your hand'."

* * *

"I don't have a library card, but do you mind if I check you out?"

"Actually I would mind, since I have a job on the library committee. However, if you would like to create a library card for yourself, I could get you a form from Midorima-kun."

* * *

Aomine was sick of it, sick of being rejected, and sick of being brushed off. This was his last pick-up line that even remotely made sense. He approached Kuroko as the boy was leaving.

"Yo, Tetsu."

Kuroko stop messing with his bag. "Aomine-kun." He said, acknowledging his light.

Aomine held out his hand, "Can you hold this? I'm going for a walk."

That neutral look on his face remained. "I—"

"No!" Yelled Aomine. "I'm tired of your vague rejections. If you want me to stop, just tell me straight up!"

Aomine crouched down, his cheeks flushed scarlet as he tried to make himself disappear. It was pretty much impossible considering his height and his short navy hair. He was made to stand out, just like his alias, "light". He inwardly cursed himself for yelling at his shadow. Now, Kuroko was probably going to Ignite Punch him into the underworld. He braced himself for a world full of pain when he felt a soft, hesitant tug on his sleeve and warm fingers intertwining with his.

He looked up and to the side where he saw Kuroko, with his head turned talking.

"You wanted to hold hands, right?" Mumbled Kuroko.

Thanks to his short, spiky hair, Kuroko's ears were revealed and parts of his cheek. From what Aomine could see, there was a soft, pretty pink blush dusting his cheeks.

He was blushing. Quite cutely too.

Smirking inwardly, Aomine grinned and said, "Oi, Tetsu."

The called boy shifted. "Yes?"

"Look at me."

The shadow player turned his head and looked down hesitantly and Aomine saw it. The soft rosy cheeks that were brought out by his pale skin and powder blue hair. Standing up to his full height, Aomine tugged along Kuroko as he peered up to his light curiously.

"Aomine-kun, what're you doing?"

"Going for a walk, duh."

Kuroko's cheeks turned another pretty shade of red before complying. The two agreed that even though they didn't talk for most of the walk, it was probably the most amazing one they had.

* * *

**omake**

"Aomine-kun…why have you stopped?"

"I've told you already, haven't I Tetsu? The only one better at pick-up lines is me."

* * *

**notes** Happy AoKuro day! I literally kinda pull this outta my ass so it's pretty bad and most likely OOC. ; u ; But I hoped you guys liked it and any tips and/or opinions would be loved!


End file.
